The QMJHL has come down hard on the two goalies involved in a fight, giving each a five-game suspension.
At the 12:07 mark of the second period period of a game between the Halifax Mooseheads and Saint John Sea Dogs on Friday, the game went a little off the rails.
It ended in a viral goalie fight between Halifax's Owen Bresson and Saint John's Arseni Radkov, the first goalie fight in the QMJHL in a long time.
This is not a common occurrence, and the rulebook is strictly against it.
While the referees and linesmen let the two go, they were both immediately hit with game misconduct penalties, which is the correct call according to the rulebook, where rule 47.18 states:
"A Major penalty and a Game Misconduct penalty will be assessed any goalkeeper involved in a fight and / or any player involved in a fight with a goalkeeper."
There's really not an grey area there, and there also isn't when it comes to discipline.
According to the new sanctions on fighting added to the league ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, any fight involving a goaltender is now warranted to a five-game suspension, amending the rule which before had wording involving solely fights between a player and a goalie.
Halifax's Owen Bresson and Saint John's Arseni Radkov will both serve five-game suspensions for their involvements in a goalie fight on Friday. (Photo: Michael Hawkins)Each goalie served the first game of their respective suspensions in Saturday's rematch between the two teams.
Since the Sea Dogs have three regular season games left while the Mooseheads only have two, that means Bresson will have to miss two playoff games, while Radkov will only miss one.
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